The franchise that invented the toys-to-life concept has its most enjoyable outing yet, with one of the best family friendly games of the year.

It’s probably not what many parents want to hear but Skylanders SuperChargers is a really good video game. In fact it’s almost certainly the best in the series, and by connection the best toys-to-life game of any kind. We do realise how much all the additional toys cost but we don’t want to be apologetic about a game that is far better than it needs to be.

Before Skylanders there were virtually no family friendly games of any quality that weren’t either Lego games or made by Nintendo. This always frustrated us, as in generations past the best games available could always be played by everyone, and yet during the era of the kids movie tie-in the very worst games in the industry were being aimed directly at its most impressionable audience.

But now things are different and although the first two Disney Infinity games hearkened back to more cynical times the latest one was actually very good. SuperChargers though is better. It’s not a tie-in to anything but a game created from the ground up to please both kids and any adults roped in to play along with them. The best way of describing Skylanders is usually as a kid-friendly Diablo and that’s still pretty accurate, although as you might gather this sequel is built around the addition of vehicles.

There’s a new Skylanders game every year but they’re developed in rotation by two separate developers. The series was created by Toys for Bob but the best entries, including our previous favourite Swap Force, have all been by Vicarious Visions. It’s their turn again this year and to their credit they’ve tried to improve every element of the game, and not just add in a new gimmick and be done with it.

If Skylanders has always had one general gameplay fault it’s that the level and mission design has been far less imaginative than the creatures and their abilities. But SuperChargers makes almost Nintendo-like effort to ensure a new idea in every zone. One gives you a special ray gun that can shrink or grow whatever you fire it at, another has you playing around with gravity so that you can walk on walls and ceilings, and another gives you telekinetic powers to push and pull objects from a distance.

The puzzles aren’t exactly Portal or Zelda quality but they at least require some brain power to solve, which is more than can be said for most games aimed at adults. Compared to last year’s game the difference is night and day, with SuperChargers having an infectious energy that never lingers on one concept for too long and always seems to have a new one waiting in the wings.

The combat has see the least amount of change from the previous entries, but then it was already the most mature element – with its surprisingly complex skill trees and wide range of elemental-based powers. Speaking of which, there are now far fewer elemental gates that require you to buy a specific new Skylanders toy to be able to pass. There is still plenty of content that requires additional toys but it’s very much been pushed back to tertiary extras. Instead SuperChargers is focused on tempting you into buying just two extra toys, so that you have a land, sea, and air vehicle each.

When you buy a starter pack you get two characters and a vehicle, usually a car. This works in the normal toys-to-life manner by placing whoever you want to play as – and now whatever you want them to ride – on the ‘Portal of Power’ so that both are instantly activated in the game.

Skylanders SuperChargers (Wii U) – toys-to-life mash-up

As ever the toys themselves are extremely well designed, and we particularly liked new characters Stormblade (a colourfully-painted bird with ninja throwing knives at the end of her feathers), Dive-Clops (basically a kid-friendly Big Daddy from BioShock), and Fiesta (a Mexican style Day of the Dead skeleton with a trumpet gun).

A special mention should also go to the Wii U version, which we’ve also played and which has its own exclusive figures that, by turning a little switch, also function as amiibo. Donkey Kong and Bowser not only have their own special vehicles but have special moves featuring, respectively, bongos and koopa minions. Although the most impressive thing is that the Wii U version looks almost as good as the PlayStation 4 and is easily one of the best third party games on the system.

Maybe it’s the increased competition from Disney Infinity and the imminent Lego Dimensions, but nothing about SuperChargers feels like it was phoned in. In fact you can almost sense how much fun the developer had creating it. And that’s especially true when it comes to using the vehicles. These are their own separate toys and since they’re potentially less exciting than the figures (which are the wrong scale to fit inside them) for the first time they have moving parts like propellers and wheels.

But what really sold us on SuperChargers is how this translates to more than just a bunch of Mario Kart style race courses. There are many of these, and they work perfectly fine – especially as a second player can join in as a gunner – but they’re only one of a variety of different vehicle sections. There are a number of others that play out like mini open world adventures, complete with their own vehicle-based puzzles, and a number of arena battles against some well-designed bosses.

Skylanders SuperChargers – the starter pack, with one vehicle and two figures

The air and sea sections work in a similar manner, with the flying sections doing their best to replicate both the on-the-rails and all-range modes from Star Fox. The water sections tend to be the less exciting of the three vehicle types, but there’s some good exploration missions that work well with the submarine theme.

If you want to play any air or sea stages then you’re going to have to buy an extra vehicle, which go for around £15 each. But given the de-emphasis of elemental locks that’s actually less of an additional outlay than previous games, and certainly less manipulative than last year’s Trap Team. They may be DLC in all but name but the toys are cool and each vehicle can be upgraded by earning new parts in-game.

On top of this SuperChargers has the most substantial online features of any game in the series, with the ability to play the race tracks competitively whenever you want or indulge in the latest version of the Skystyones collectible card game.

For what it’s attempting to do, and who it’s aimed at, SuperChargers is remarkably lacking in serious flaws. We do wish the script would try to be a bit cleverer, but the writing remains bog standard Saturday morning fare – with none of the knowing wit that more modern cartoons tend to have. Although that never seems to have bothered the game’s primary audience.

SuperChargers is definitely aimed at children, but only in the sense that the level of violence and difficulty is age appropriate. The whole toys-to-life concept can often seem cynical and exploitive but this game at least is as imaginative and eager to please as any we’ve played this year.

Skylanders SuperChargers

In Short: Easily the best toys-to-life game so far, with a great new gimmick that makes for one of the best family friendly titles this year.

Pros: Some wonderfully imaginative and varied level design, with surprisingly in-depth combat and puzzle-solving. Vehicle sections work very well and the toys look and work great.

Cons: The game is desperate for you to buy at least two new toys, raising the price to at least £30 extra. The script has little to offer adults except for a few bad puns.